


Boys Will Be Boys

by Sadbhyl



Series: Smith & Harkness [10]
Category: Sarah Jane Adventures, Sarah Jane Smith (Big Finish Audio), Torchwood
Genre: F/M, Gen, Jossed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-30
Updated: 2011-08-30
Packaged: 2017-10-23 06:39:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/247302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sadbhyl/pseuds/Sadbhyl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Suddenly there are too many men in Sarah’s life</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boys Will Be Boys

**Author's Note:**

> MAJOR spoilers for the Sarah Jane Smith audios. Some parts of this may not make sense if you haven’t listened to them, but you can probably get the general idea.
> 
> This series was originally written waaaay back when, starting in May of 2006, shortly after School Reunion aired and a few months before the premiere of Torchwood, when the Sarah Jane Adventures were barely an idea. Which explains some of the poor characterization in the early chapters, especially Ianto. I struggled with the idea of revising to fit canon, but decided to leave it as an archive. Everything's pretty much Jossed, but have fun with it anyway.

Sarah should have suspected something was amiss. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for Jack to invite her to the pub, but usually he issued the invitation himself with that Cary Grant smile, his hand on the small of her back in that unconscious way he had, as though seduction was an automatic response with him and not something he planned.

Maybe it was.

But this time it was Ianto who informed her that Captain Harkness would like her to join him at the Black Pony after hours. Ianto’s expression should have been her clue. Not that he hadn’t been his usual efficient self. There just had been something…amused around the corners of his mouth and eyes. She should have picked up on that, too.

And she really shouldn’t have been surprised to find Jack and Joshua Townsend knee to knee at the bar, each with a drink in their hand and their heads almost intimately close, talking intensely. She had a fairly good idea what Josh was on about. Jack was another matter.

They both looked up when she joined them.

Josh looked sheepish and slightly defensive, which _didn’t_ surprise her. She’d caught him trailing after her often enough to know how he would react. Jack seemed…disappointed, as though despite his invitation he didn’t really want her here. The pang that struck was another surprise.

“Hey, SJ,” Josh mumbled with a boyish, “forgive me” smile.

It took all her restraint not to shout at him. “I thought I told you to stay home.”

He shrugged. “When was the last time that actually worked?”

Sarah sighed. “Never. I swear, Josh…” She stopped and shook her head. There wasn’t any point. “The least you could do is offer a lady a—”

Jack handed her a shandy.

Josh’s eyes narrowed.

“Thank you,” she said, put out at having her speech interrupted. Before she could move, Jack hooked a foot into an empty chair at a nearby table and pulled it over for her.

Josh’s expression turned stony.

“So,” Sarah settled into the chair and took a sip of her drink, “what were you two talking about so intently when I arrived?”

“The matches,” Josh insisted at the same time Jack said more honestly, “You.”

“Well, that’s an interesting combination, seeing as I’ve never played professionally.”

Josh glared at Jack. “Prince Charming here has been asking a lot of nosy questions about you.”

“Prince Charming. There’s a new one.” Jack’s eyes sparkled with humor over the top of his glass. “And I’m sure Sarah doesn’t mind, seeing as she’s been asking so many questions about me. Do you?”

There was challenge in his look now, but she knew him well enough not to back down from it. “Ask all you want. My life is an open book.”

“With black and white pages.”

Sarah nearly choked on her drink.

Josh rose from his stool with a protective growl. “Why, you dirty bastard—”

“Josh, no!” Sarah’s glass crashed to the floor as she jumped between them, Jack rising up to his full height defensively but making no move to attack. The pub fell instantly silent, all eyes on them waiting for the drama to unfold. “Outside. Now.”

Tension shivered through Josh, his need to lash out fighting across his features. Just when she thought that this time she might not be able to stop him, he threw up his hands and stormed out.

She followed.

He was pacing in the road out front, the streetlamps giving him an almost saturnine look as he raked his hand through his hair. As soon as he saw her, he jabbed a finger towards the bar. “You heard him! He knows about the Order. He knows about _you_. You aren’t still going to tell me you trust this guy!”

“Get a hold of yourself,” she snapped, closing the distance between them. “People are staring.”

“I don’t care.” But he lowered his voice, leaning closer to her. “This is too dangerous, Sarah. He’s too dangerous. It’s time for you to get the hell out of here.”

“Josh, I can’t. Not yet.” She softened her voice, attempting to soothe him. “He knows something, something about my friend, and I can’t leave until I find out what it is.”

“Is your friend worth getting killed for?”

She answered without hesitation. “Yes.”

“Dammit, SJ.” But she could hear the resignation in his voice. His eyes shifted, and she realized that Jack was now standing in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched them dispassionately. “Watch this guy. He’s really good. Five more minutes and _I’d_ have slept with him.”

Sarah’s lip curled. “That might have been his plan.”

“I’m not joking.” Josh didn’t rise to her bait. “He’s charming and he’s attentive, he’s gorgeous as sin, and worst of all he knows it. And he’s getting under your skin.”

“He’s not, he’s—”

He stopped her. “You can kid yourself, SJ, but you can’t fool me. This isn’t just about your friend anymore. You’re getting in over your head, and don’t think for one minute Captain bloody Jack Harkness is going to fish you out.”

“Josh. It’s not like that. I’m fine. I know exactly what I’m about, if _some people_ ,” she glared at him pointedly, “stop buffalo-ing in and cocking everything up.”

Josh glared at Jack again. “I don’t trust him.”

“Neither do I,” Sarah insisted. “But I can’t leave. Not yet.”

He finally surrendered. “Fine, do what you want. You always do anyway.” He dug into his pocket to fish something out, pressing it surreptitiously into her hand. “But just remember, help is just a whistle away, yeah?”

She opened her hand to find a small copper and steel dog whistle in her palm.

With a wry smile, she said, “Go on. You can catch the next train back if you leave now.”

“Alright.” He raised his voice, his eyes meeting Jack’s in warning. “But I’ll be back if you need me,” he said loud enough for Jack to hear. “Just call, right?”

“I will. I promise.”

With one last glare, he bent down to press a chaste kiss on Sarah’s forehead before shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans and striding off into the Cardiff night.

As she watched him go, she wasn’t surprised to feel Jack come up behind her. “He’s sweet on you.”

“He’s not.”

“He is,” Jack insisted. “You should take him up on it. The two of you are cute together.”

“You must be joking!” She looked up at him in disbelief, but he was still watching Josh disappearing into the darkness. “He’s thirty years younger than I am.”

“So?” At last he turned to look down at her, his eyes dark and evocative despite the smile that brightened the corners. “I’m twenty years younger than you. Does that make a difference?”

“No.” She couldn’t hold out against that look and turned away. Josh was gone. “I’m still old enough to be your mother.”

His lips were soft against her ear as he murmured, “But you’re not.”

She had to close her eyes, her insides twisting into aching knots.

“I’m not part of the Order, if that is any comfort.”

His sudden change of subject and his casual tone of voice rattled her, still lost in the warm rise of arousal. “I’m sorry?”

“The Orbus Postremo. We knew about it, of course. Torchwood. After the death of the Keeper, we had to do a hell of a housecleaning. Guess it’s not surprising the Crimson Chapter would want to be close to all that alien tech.” He met her eyes, radiating sincerity. “But I wasn’t one of them.”

“Thank you.” Surprisingly, it was a comfort.

And so was the familiar hand now resting on the small of her back. “Come on,” he said softly, guiding her back to the pub. “I owe you a drink.”

She surrendered.


End file.
